Complaints Procedure

Complaints Procedure

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or

No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Our complaints handling policy

Irvings is committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

Our complaints handling procedure

If you have a concern or a complaint, please contact us as soon as you are aware of the problem so this can be addressed. Tim Ryan takes responsibility for investigating and responding to complaints. Tim’s contact details are below.

What will happen next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five days of your raising your concerns, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve Mr Ryan reviewing your matter file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you.

Mr Ryan will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. If practical, he may also invite you to a meeting to discuss the problem further.

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter we may at this stage arrange for another partner to review the decision.

We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ or call 0300 555 0333 about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of your receiving a final written response from us regarding your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

Do you have a question for us?

One of our staff members would be happy to speak to you directly. Why not give us a call?

This is a question you may be asking yourself if you feel that you are entitled to some form of compensation. Why not ask us the question instead? Please fill in the form below with some basic details and one of our staff will be in touch to follow up your enquiry.